Donald S. Collins

Associate

Retired Fire Chief, Fort Rucker Fire & EMS Services, Alabama

Steve has a forty-five (45) year career with federal and municipal fire services, retiring with 34 years of federal civil service with the U.S. Army.

Since his retirement he has remained active in the emergency services arena, most recently with Booz, Allen and Hamilton as a Senior Consultant under two different contracts. First as a Mission Assurance Fire Protection Analyst where he provided professional services for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command conducting Army installation protection program assessments, specifically assessing department management, fire and Haz-Mat response capabilities, E-911 and fire prevention services. Next, Steve was assigned to a U.S. Air Force contract where he assisted in the review/update of the automated Fire Emergency Services Information Management System.

From July 2012 to September 2014, Steve served as the E-911 Systems Coordinator for the City of Dothan/Houston County (AL) Communications District Board with responsibility for the management and administration of the E-911 communication system. Steve served as liaison between the Board and the County Volunteer Firefighters Association representing 14 VFDs.
During his tenure Steve was tasked with developing a plan for a joint City/County Emergency Communications Center encompassing two PSAPs and the County EMA office.

At the time of his retirement from civil service, Steve served as Chief of the Fort Rucker, AL Fire and Emergency Services, (F&ES). He also served as Deputy Chief of the department prior to his promotion to Fire Chief. Fort Rucker is the Home of Army Aviation providing all helicopter pilot training for the U.S. Army. Fort Rucker F&ES provides fire suppression, EMS, aircraft rescue
firefighting, Haz-Mat, confined space rescue and fire prevention services to the Fort Rucker community. The department is the largest in the U.S. Army with a staff of 233 personnel operating from 21 stations. As Fire Chief he developed a program to expand EMS from 7 Paramedics operating from the headquarters fire station to the EMT certification of over 200 personnel serving all 21 stations. In addition Chief Collins secured multi-year funding to replace an aging fleet of ARFF crash trucks at 15 fire stations with smaller twin-agent rapid intervention vehicles designed for the stage-field response environment.

Prior to his move to Fort Rucker F&ES Steve served as the Fire Protection Specialist for the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) at Fort Monroe, VA. In this capacity he served as technical advisor and provided guidance in all areas of fire protection and prevention to the TRADOC command staff. Steve was responsible for conducting fire protection program
evaluations against DoD and Army core competencies across 15 Army installations.

Steve has served as Fire Chief at Fort Story Fire Department in Virginia Beach, VA, Assistant Chief, Operations at Fort Lee, VA and Fire Chief at Sierra Army Depot, CA.

Steve is a U.S. Air Force veteran having served as a structural and aircraft rescue firefighter.

Steve has a Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Science/Administration from the University of Maryland University College and an Associates degree in Fire Science from Thomas Nelson Community College.